Self Improvement – By Degrees

Self Improvement – Your Choice

(Including Free Membership to Success Upgrade Club)

Most Military Gallantry Medals were awarded to men and women who:



Accepted that Problems were Challenges



Knew what had to be done



Knew that they were the person to do it



Took immediate and positive action

There are no bullets flying – so what’s stopping you doing the same??

CONTENTS

Introduction

Positive Mental Attitude

Expand Your Imagination to Meet Your Challenges

Views from the experts

Get Started – Your Free Pass To My

“Success Upgrade”

Membership

1 © John Reed – 2009

John Reed

(Retired Army Major)

INTRODUCTION

“No - This won’t take long”

I promise you – I’m setting a positive,

get cracking

example!!

I’m currently working as both a Retailer in our City Centre Candle Shop (wow, times are

tough on the street!) and as an Internet Marketer. I’ve had other careers – as an Army

Officer (moving and changing roles every 2-4 years), as a Drs’ Surgery Manager (with 4

Surgeries, computer-linked, and 30 staff), and as a Seaside Hotelier where my wife and I

ran our 12 Bedroom Hotel in North Devon (how I miss that 3 mile beach!). Yes, we’re

used to moving around, but we’re mentally stable, and still happily married!!

If you can accept that a positive attitude, some clear goal-setting, sound organisation, self

discipline and a burning desire to achieve even simple, personal initial targets can get you

moving towards your long term dreams – then you are already on the right track!! –

Believe me – you really ARE!

We’re all of us different – thank goodness. I’m going to give you a starter here, not the

answer to everything – hey – this is FREE!! These principles work in all walks of life,

even though I’m mainly going to concentrate on views from within the Internet Marketing

Community. I’ve seen them work – in many countries, in many scenarios. As a young

man I learned first hand what it was like NOT to apply them properly, but luckily for me I

had mentors who grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and forced me to follow some

sharp, rough, but valuable and well meant guidance.

can avoid the rough stuff

Positive Action Is The Key

Just read, learn, and act on the guidance I’m adding here for you.

Then – for further help – take my offer of a free place in the

Success Upgrade Club

2 © John Reed – 2009

POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

In Reverse Order :-

Attitude: - I’ve heard it said that your attitude has to be your ally. I describe that as

being like walking over an open moor with your allies on three sides. They keep you

moving forwards and not wandering off sideways at a tangent. Develop an attitude that

works with your strengths and lessens the effect of your weaknesses (we all have some).

It’s like following a favourite path, once you know what your boundaries are through

repeatedly applying them you won’t have to consciously stay within them, it will all flow

naturally.

Mental: - Body language is something that we are not often aware of, but it

sometimes can say more than our words ever could. It reflects your mental state – your

attitude. That is why it is so important to pay attention to body language. Be aware of

what it is saying to others, and how it is affecting as well as reflecting your mental state.

This is very much an area where you can really do yourself a lot of good by working

regularly and frequently on how you approach daily challenges, how you organise your

day, how you prioritise. By changing your physical body language you can achieve a

reverse effect on your mental state. Start your process by thinking deeply about your aims

in life. Break that down into long term and short term goals. Be very realistic with the

short term goals, be specific with all of them, but don’t restrict yourself too much with the

very long term goals! And that’s because if you really want to achieve something and

dream about it seriously then you CAN plan a way towards achieving it.

I know you’ve heard it before – but –

“Yes – You Can!”

Adopt both Mental Attitude and

Physical Body Language to tie in with the main drive of Self Improvement -------

Being Positive: - Despite many world wide examples of the power of “Thinking

Positive” this approach is still cast aside by many as being a load of baloney!!! Well don’t

3 © John Reed – 2009

let us fall into that trap, we are not afraid to face up to reality and admit that much of either

our success, or lack of it, has been the direct result of our level of positive mental attitude.

And here it is the POSITIVE part of that term that rises to the top of the importance chart.

Negativity is very damaging to personal progress, and can affect whole groups of people –

low morale can seriously affect even the health of large groups of workers, communities,

or specific businesses. Well, the positive, opposite effect may be less easy to spot but it

works just as well and can be enhanced with regular training.

So - The

“Can Do – Will Do”

approach does work. This is Positive Thinking in the

raw. However, it isn’t easy for some of us to accept that it works, and because it isn’t

always successful this just allows unbelievers to sneer and say – “Told you so!”

We Brits tend (on the whole) to be a bit hesitant at adopting “Clap-Happy” sing-alongs or

“Shout-about-it” group therapy. But even Brits, reserved Danes, aloof Swedes and wary

Norwegians can (and most certainly have) made huge successes of employing

“Can Do –

Will Do”

– we just did it in our own manner, with a conscious effort to achieve our

specific goals.

“Now Hoist This In Chaps”

– as a pompous Senior Cadet at Sandhurst used to say when

he wanted to be sure we took notice of him:

Adopting a

Positive Mental Attitude

means not making excuses – the chief enemy of

self improvement! When you make an excuse, you are opening the door to negative

thoughts. You try to pass on the responsibility for something every time you make an

excuse. Excuses make becoming a positive thinker very difficult – so - don’t make them!

Be aware of the tendency and practise avoiding it. If you are someone who has been used

to making excuses, then you will have a hard time becoming a positive thinker, unless you

make an immediate and determined effort to stop - completely.

Do that now, from the word GO. I mean it – cut them out of your life!

4 © John Reed – 2009

EXPAND YOUR IMAGINATION

TO MEET YOUR CHALLENGES

I’ll take this in reverse order as well……………..

Problems as Challenges: Only yesterday an old friend said to me – “It’s alright for you

ex-Army people, you were always taught to treat a problem as a challenge – and that

makes it sound so much more fun , AND easier!!” I’m glad he mentioned it because I’d

forgotten about that being a deliberate concept. It’s so obvious when you think about it

positively!

Negative people see solving problems as just one more thing they have to do, it’s work so

there’s no fun about it. Strange really when you consider there is such a huge

Pastime/Hobby Market built around the fun and challenge of puzzles and games –

Negative people just can’t see that problem solving can be something fun and exciting –

it’s all about mental approach and their lack of positive attitude.

You have to approach problems with an attitude that you are facing a positive challenge. I

don’t apologize for stressing this - You have to believe you can solve the problem – don’t

immediately think about how hard it is going to be. You have to believe in your abilities.

Self doubt can kill even the best problem solving efforts. If you never believe that you’ll

solve a problem then you probably won’t. You’ll often see quotes relating to “achieving

your aims if you believe you will”. When I was young I didn’t really believe that up front,

though secretly harbouring the wish that it might be true. I’d always belittle my chances

of winning a Discus Competition, whilst working myself to a standstill in secret practise

5 © John Reed – 2009

sessions, hoping to achieve the success I wanted. I won a few, and set a few schoolboy

records along the way, but that open disbelief in self-belief was my undoing when it came

to serious competition at National level. A similar result in an international Pistol

Shooting Match a decade later left a bigger scar and it was then that I realised the power of

tackling a challenge head-on with a deliberately positive attitude and bags of self-belief. I

watched our brash, full-of-themselves Machine Gun Team outshoot all the other nations

despite a few handicaps, and saw the ever-confident US Pistol Team wipe the floor with

my scores (even though I had been streets ahead of them in practise). Despite being

intensely keen to win I didn’t have a well honed, ingrained sense of self belief……….

There was too much playing down of my chances……Yes – Excuse building!!

Our minds are very powerful. We’ve all been told that whatever you put your mind to you

can accomplish. Well, the same is also true for what you set your mind against. If you

think that you can’t do something then you will almost certainly fail. It really is that

simple. Your mind is that powerful. Mind over matter – that saying covers it in three

short words.

Be positive to succeed

Expand Your Imagination: - There is a lot of concern amongst those that don’t see

themselves as imaginative entrepreneurs or marvellous inventors that they just won’t have

the ideas needed to make an impact in their field. Let’s go back to basics – set practical,

achievable goals…… but don’t stop dreaming of where you really want to be. Now, does

that involve a lot of imagination? Let your mind roam freely over endless possibilities,

indulge in brainstorming, list many future options that you’d like to include in your life –

feel that creativity flowing in now that you’ve let go of your inhibitions. There are some

simple techniques to help you with whatever your immediate tasks are, and the ideas

you’ll need for them. The obvious ones are the first three but I include a few more ideas

to set you off:

6 © John Reed – 2009



Ask questions. Question everything. Be like a two year old child and ask “why”.

You may even know the answer already, but ask anyway. Questions lead to ideas.

Many people solve problems by asking questions. They look at the problem and ask

‘what if’ – what if I tried this or what if this happens? Through questioning they are

able to see the possible outcomes. This allows them to come up with the best solution

- the one that will solve the problem.



Compare things. Compare one thing to another and try to see what makes one better

or more useful. Try to seek out things that are similar, yet different and figure out the

best qualities of each and how you could put them together to make a unique product

that has the best quality of each product.

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Think about what you want that you don’t have now. Imagine the future and think

about where technology is going. Try to come up with ideas about things that would

make life easier or better. Even if these ideas are not plausible right now, just let

yourself imagine “what if”.

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Learn to use breathing to relax and take time to think. By being able to regulate

your breathing and focus deeply on it, you can clear your mind and allow creative

thoughts to flow more freely. You may need to step back and consider the situation

before acting. Look at your options and pause before taking action.

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Practice visualizing things. If you have problems with visualization, then start out

small with visualizing simple things in your head and then moving onto things that are

more complex.

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Gather information on things that interest you. This will help give you something

to think about. You can think about how to build upon what already exists and how

your creative thinking can change it or make it better.

7 © John Reed – 2009

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Find a friend to brainstorm with. This involves just sitting down and coming up

with numerous ways to solve the problem. Some ideas may be out there and that is

fine. Using innovative thinking and being creative can help a person come up with an

unconventional solution to a problem. Getting someone else in on your creative

thinking means you can work together. Having someone else’s perspective on things

can really get the creative juices flowing – and it’s usually more fun to share.



Try thinking as if you are someone else. Sometimes we get stuck in our own

mindset. Creative thinking is about going beyond our comfort zone and thinking

outside the box, so pretend you are someone else and think how he or she would

think. This can definitely work wonders if you include it in your work with a friend

or two.



Challenge your brain often. Give your brain a workout by doing puzzles and trying

new things. This will expose you to different ideas and you can add that to your mind

bank of ideas. It doesn’t have to include wearing beige and doing Sudoku puzzles for

4 hours at a time (a UK joke, started I believe by Billy Connolly - "The Big Yin").



Being flexible. As mentioned, you have to go beyond your comfort zone. You have

to avoid the immediate urge to go to the tried and true. You have to be flexible and

willing to try something different. You will never know how great a solution may be

if you do not try it.



Develop a process. For the more organized individual or the more complex problem

it can sometimes help to develop a problem solving process. This usually involves

analyzing the problem, proposing different solutions, testing the solutions and then

finally, applying the chosen solution. It is a very structured way of solving a problem.

8 © John Reed – 2009

VIEWS FROM SOME EXPERTS

If You Had Just 60 Seconds To Explain To Someone The Secret Of
Your Own Personal Success How Would You Summarize It?

Simon Hodgkinson:

summarize in just 60 seconds?? !! OK – here goes:

1.) Self Belief: - Never at any point in my entire career have I ever allowed myself to think

I couldn't do something (LOL even when I genuinely couldn't). Sure like everyone I've

failed any number of times, but tend to put it down to lack of preparation and not in any

personal shortcomings. I think it's vital to have that 'I can do anything' attitude otherwise

you get too scared to be bold.

2.) Dogged Determination: - When I fix on a goal I don't allow anything to sway me off

course. As a former salesman I learned early on that what most people see as failure (and

give up) is really only a blip on your journey to reaching a specific target. The only truth is

you'll never reach a goals or objective if you give up too early.

3.) Knowing there's always more to learn: - While I've been very successful in business

I've never considered at any point I knew all there was to know. I read, learn and take

notice of things every single day and as a result constantly improve all aspects of my life.

If you can become a perpetual student life will be far more enriched and you'll grow ever

more successful in business - and in your personal life too.

JP Schoeffel:

There are 3 pillars to my success:

I have been able to find a niche and position myself with a truly unique selling proposition

(developing a proprietary technology valued by early adopters)

I have then targeted more prospects by adding services around this core product (more

services, more features, more targets), but still focusing on the same underlying needs

(build money making websites). Adding more satellite products, building a strong

portfolio where every product serves the other

Hard work, dedication, positive mindset, a doer, perfection does not exist, take risks (to

stay ahead of the curve and be unique)

JP Schoeffel is a web entrepreneur, business consultant, internet marketer, author,

operating an online publishing company. He has generated millions of dollars selling

his own products and services, as well as promoting others.

Paul Myers:

Define success for yourself, and don't bother with any other definition. No-one knows

what makes you happy as well as you do, and happiness is the greatest measure of success.

Not money, not the approval of strangers, and not "stuff."

Be happy. Just because you can

Paul is a well known, long established, and widely respected

“No Bull***t - No Hype” Marketer.

Let’s Get Started -

Do You Have What it Takes to Get Rich?

You can now see yourself as an entrepreneur, setting your own hours, being your own

boss, enjoying the freedom of being self employed. And you can now also imagine what

life will be like once you’re a big success and pulling in all that cash. But hang on.

Before you run to the car showroom and test drive your dream car, let me ask you

something: Do you really have what it takes to get rich?

To answer, let’s see how you rate on these characteristics. Can you / do you:

●

Stick with something even when you don’t yet see results? The day you

officially start your business will be one of the most exciting days of your life. You’ll

probably run on adrenaline for the next several days if not weeks. But then you come

down off your high. And now you’re working the same amount of hours, trying to get

your business off the ground, but it’s just not as exciting any more. The worst thing,

however, is that you’re not yet seeing results… so you don’t have any tangible rewards to

motivate you and keep you moving forward. Let me ask you this: Can you stick with

something even if it doesn’t pay off immediately? If so, this whole entrepreneur thing

might be for you.

●

Let go of a losing idea? Trust me on this: When you spend days and weeks

working on an idea, it will feel like your baby. And really it is, because it certainly is your

brainchild. But what happens if your idea doesn’t work out? What if one particular idea

is just dragging down your whole business? Can you let go of it, even though you’re

attached to it and still love it? If so, you might make a good entrepreneur.

●

Have confidence in your abilities? People are going to doubt you. Some may

even laugh at you. If you listen to them, the chances of you enjoying success are slim to

none. Are you confident in your abilities and your idea? If so, then you might make a

good entrepreneur.

●

Know the value of the products/services you provide? Here’s a big problem:

Sometimes beginning entrepreneurs work like dogs for pennies. And a lot of times this

happens because they don’t value the solutions they’re offering. The beginning business

person thinks, “Gee, I wouldn’t pay that much for this product, so I better keep the price

low.” But you are not your market. You are not your customer. And if you’re providing

a good product or service with a high value to your customers, then you should charge

them accordingly. If you’re charging too much, they’ll let you know. But until then, you

need to value the solutions you provide. And if you do value your products or services,

then you might be a good entrepreneur.

●

Finally, and this is a big one, are you a problem solver?

Obviously, problem solving comes in handy when you’re an entrepreneur, because the

buck stops with you in your business. There’s no boss to solve your problems – you’re the

boss. So it’s up to you to uncover and solve problems in your business. But here’s the

bigger reason: You’re in the business of solving your customers’ problems! If you know

how to spot and solve other people’s problems, then you might be a good entrepreneur.

These are just a handful of the many traits of a successful entrepreneur.

To discover seven more traits – and to take a FREE self assessment test that will reveal

whether you’re cut out to be successful –

claim a

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